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Monday, 27 August 2012

Alice in Wonderland...

My latest project has been to make an Alice in Wonderland outfit for a Mad Hatter's Garden Party. First up was to check exactly what Alice should be wearing to the Garden Party. A quick search online showed I needed a blue, short sleeved dress, teamed with a white apron.

It's still Winter in Australia and the dress was to be worn outside, so I bought some lovely blue flannelette. However, the weather forecast was for unseasonably warm weather, so I packed the flannelette away and looked in my stash for some suitable fabric. I didn't have any plain, light blue fabric, but I found a blue cotton fabric with a very small floral print, that I was happy with.

I didn't want to make a fancy dress that would only be worn once, or maybe put into the dress up box. I wanted to make a simple, but pretty dress that would be worn often, so I used the Marilyn's Slim Fit Peasant Dress from Create Kids Couture. This easy to follow pattern, which I've used before, is available as a free download from Fabric.com.

I knew it wouldn't take long to make the dress, as I had made three peasant dresses earlier in the year.

As well as deviating from the traditional Alice in Wonderland dress by using a floral fabric, I have also omitted the Peter Pan collar and have made a dress without a waistline. My plan was to use the tie on the apron, to give the effect of a waistline and it worked.

I couldn't find a pattern for an apron, so I made my own. Here's how I did it.

Cutting the fabric:

There are four parts to the apron:

bib

skirt

waistband and tie

straps

First up, determine the size of the bib and skirt by visualising their sizes compared to the dress, then add seam and hem allowances. The apron can be as small or as large as you want it to be. You will need to cut:

a square for the bib

a rectangle for the skirt. Cut one an a half times the final width.

two long rectangles for the waistband and ties. I cut mine 3" wide, which will give you a finished width of 2".

two 3" wide strips for the straps. Measure from the shoulder to the back of the waist where you want the strap to join the tie. Decide whether you want the straps to cross over or not. Add allowances.

The Bib:

Hem three sides of the bib:

Turn each side under 1/4" and press or stitch

Turn each side under 1/4" again and stitch.

The Waistband / Ties:

Fold the short ends of the waistband/tie in 1/2" and press.

Fold the long ends of the waistband/tie in 1/2" and press.

Repeat for the second waistband/tie.

Attaching the Bib to the Waistband:

Match the centre of the unsewn side of the bib and the centre of the waistband/tie. I had to join my waistband/tie to get a long enough length. It would have looked better if I'd made two joins at the ends of the bib, instead of the centre.

Sandwich the bib between the two waistbands/ties.

Pin

Hand baste

Remove pins

Stitch the bib to the top of the waistband, sewing 1/8" from the edge.

Continue stitching and sew the back and front of the tie together, on the top seam only.

Hi Pam,This is so cute! We just had a big Alice in Wonderland Tea Party. I would love it you would share this on Super Sweet Sunday @ swtboutique.blogspot.com I might make this for Halloween. Have a great weekendStephanie

Thanks for linking up to my party! I wanted to let you know I picked your link to feature this week! See my post and grab my feature button here http://toastiestudio.blogspot.nl/2012/09/made-monday-35-picks.html